2. Main elements
■ The main elements in a magazine are:
-Main image- usually takes up majority of the front cover, ca be anything, but there are
conventions linked to genres of magazines
-text- magazines use to on the covers to give information (could be about the magazine or
the contents of the magazine)
-colour scheme- very often a magazine will use the same colours in every magazine to
create house style, but they will also use the same colours and complementary colours to
create meaning on the cover.
3. Elements of a magazine
■ Masthead- the title/ name of the magazine, usually at the top of the cover, very large
and clear
■ Main cover line- the main story/ article that is featuring in the magazine, usually larger
than the other cover lines
■ Cover lines- other stories/ articles that are featuring in the magazine, not the main one
■ Date line- informs the reader of when the magazine was published
4. Additional elements
■ Barcode
■ Skyline or header- at the top of the magazine, more coverlines, additional information
about the contents of the magazine
■ Trapline- like a header but at the bottom of the page
5. How I am planning for my magazine
■ You can create colour schemes from the main image, picking out colours from the image
and using them for the text. I will have to choose a colour scheme to carry out through both
my magazines, creating a house style. In the cover lines I will use two colours, which I will
have been picked out from the main cover image and then black and white.
■ In my magazine I will include: a masthead, main coverline, additional coverlines, date line,
barcode, colour scheme, main image and skyline
■ My text composition will be: the masthead at the top of the page as this is conventional
and the reader can clearly identify which magazine it will be, the coverlines will surround
the main element of the main image so that the image is clear and stands out (the text will
frame the image), there may be a skyline to add information, but it will not be the mist
important information and it will be more hidden and further from the eye line.
6. Codes and conventions
■ Conventions of current affairs magazines are:
Masthead
Coverlines
Main coverline
Main image
Date line
Barcode
Skyline
Price
■ Codes (use of images, fonts and language to construct representations and opinions),
codes are used to connote the meanings of images and language, it creates a
representation of topics and people.The ideologies created will also dictate the
audience of the magazine.
7. In my magazine
■ My main image the April edition, a family standing at their front door, sad expressions to connote the
sadness of the situation, and how it is affecting everyday life.The whole world changed in April, and it
affected people dramatically, it is a major current affair and should be on the cover. Rather than
focusing on the medical and statistics of the pandemic in this cover, I want to appeal to the younger
audience and represent how they are being affected by covid-19. the headline reading, stay home,
save lives, protect the NHS, which was the slogan for the lockdown
■ The second cover (June) a young woman, she is of an ethnic background so that I am showing
diversity in my magazine, she’ll be holding a sign that says Black Lives Matter, the black luves matter
movement is so important and was a very large topic matter for the younger generations, with
majority of the attention being from social media, with social media movements like black out
Tuesday.This picture will be in black and white, fitting for the black lives matter movement, because
people are not defined by the colour of their skin, so there will be no colour in the imagery in this
edition of the magazine.The main coverline being on the sign the model is holding, there will also be,
“what you can do to help”, because this movement is about educating and learning.
